Download rsc prize and award lecture

RSC PRIZE AND AWARD LECTURE
MID-ANGLIA LOCAL SECTION
PROFESSOR JASON CHIN
MRC LABORATORY OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
WEDNESDAY 12TH JANUARY 2011
BERRILL LECTURE THEATRE, THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
Reprogramming the code of life
ABSTRACT
The information for synthesizing the molecules that allow organisms to survive and replicate is encoded in
genomic DNA. In the cell, DNA is copied to messenger RNA, and triplet codons (64) in the messenger
RNA are decoded - in the process of translation - to synthesize polymers of the natural 20 amino acids.
This process (DNA RNA protein) describes the central dogma of molecular biology and is conserved in
terrestrial life. We are interested in re-writing the central dogma to create organisms that synthesize
proteins containing unnatural amino acids and polymers composed of monomer building blocks beyond the
20 natural amino acids. I will discuss our invention and synthetic evolution of new 'orthogonal' translational
components (including ribosomes and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases) to address the major challenges in
re-writing the central dogma of biology. I will discuss the application of the approaches we have developed
for incorporating unnatural amino acids into proteins and investigating and synthetically controlling diverse
biological processes, with a particular emphasis on understanding the role of post-translational
modifications.
PROGRAMME
09.30
Miguel Alejandro Lopez-Ramirez
Role of microRNAs in inflammation at the blood-brain barrier
10.00
Melanie Georgiou
Engineering functional tissues for regenerative medicine:
development of a cellular implant for nerve repair
10.30
COFFEE
11.00
Suzanne Simmons
Targetting heparanase for prevention of tumour metastasis and
tissue remodelling using aptamers
11.30
Professor Jason Chin
Reprogramming the code of life